Miami Dolphins 50 At 50: Worst Draft Picks
By Brian Miller
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The Miami Dolphins have made some phenomenal draft choices in their 50 years and they have made some pretty horrible ones as well. We could all talk endlessly about the last 20 seasons of draft picks and why they were so horrid. Perhaps nothing shines as brightly as the picks wasted during the Dave Wannstedt years.
We are going to look at some of the best and the worst but today will take a look at the latter. To be fair we will discount the 3rd rounds and lower since frankly they can be shots in the dark. So with that we will concentrate on the biggest 1st and 2nd round mistakes the team has made.
Oddly enough this comes on the heels of what could Miami’s best back-to-back draft classes in a long time. As I am sure you as the reader will want to chime in with names of the players you loathe and the ones that I missed entirely. Here is my list, in no particular order…frankly they are all failures.
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Number 10
John Bosa
Drafted in 1987’s first round at number 16 overall, Bosa was drafted in an effort to fix the Miami Dolphins defensive line. In his three seasons with Miami, Bosa would play a back-up role and would not start one single game. Missing on a first round pick is nothing special even for then head coach Don Shula but Shula didn’t just miss on Bosa. In 1988 he drafted Eric Kumerow with the 16th overall pick. Like Bosa, Kumerow would never start a game for the Dolphins and three years later was out of Miami. Kumerow and Bosa are a push at number 10.
Number 9
Sammie Smith
Don Shula did not have a great three year span. In 1989 he drafted the Florida State running back to be the compliment to Dan Marino’s high-flying passing game. Smith couldn’t excel at the next level and four years later was out of Miami. He played a final season in Denver before exiting the league and falling into legal trouble. It was one of the worst three year spans in Don Shula’s draft history.